Friday, April 28, 2017

Isn't this a cute card? The image is from My Favorite Things Pure Innocence stamp set, Gone Fishin'. The image was colored in using alcohol markers. The sentiment on this card is from the Lawn Fawn set, Fintastic Friends. Not only would this make a cute birthday card, it would also be great for Father's Day or retirement. That background paper is from the Regals Retired DSP stack from a few years ago~~that favorite pattern of mine! Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Thursday, April 27, 2017

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a video from Peggy Jo at Pink Ink Classroom Channel. She has been releasing videos on using colored pencils and I have been watching them as they are released. Since I like beach scenes, Peggy Jo's video on creating sunshine behind a scenic image caught my attention. Out came my Prisma Colored pencils and Pink Ink Stamps and I started my sunshine background. Well, I started it a few times and the sunshine and sky never looked anything like Peggy Jo's! So I wanted to show you the closest I came to putting a sunshine in my sky that wasn't a die cut!! I need a lot more practice to get it right and good so until then I will use die cuts or Clarity brushes! Have a great day!

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Today's card was really quick and easy to make. I used the Stylish Stems framelits to create the flower and stem on this card. The Calypso Coral looks nice and crisp against the white. The strip of DSP is from a retired DSP stack from a few years ago. I really liked the little polka dot design in those stacks. I am sorry to see the 12 x 12 DSP color stacks retiring. But again, there are some new things in the Annual Catalog that I look forward to ordering. Have a great day!

Monday, April 24, 2017

Today I have a fun card to share. I used Taylored Expressions' Paw-some stamp set for both the image and the sentiment. The image was colored with Spectrum Noir markers after being stamped in Versafine black ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. The white layer was created using one of Avery Elle's Wonky Frames die which was color-brushed prior to die-cutting the white cardstock. I hope the special boy I made this card for enjoys it as much as I enjoyed creating it! Have a great day!

Friday, April 21, 2017

Happy Friday! Today's card was created using some of my most used products since I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator. You all know I like butterflies. Well the time has come for the Papillon Potpourri stamp set to retire. Not only that, but the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches are retiring, too! So today's card is made using those items and the banner thinlet that is in the retiring Gift Card Envelope & Trim Thinlets set. The good thing is that the new catalog has a number of new items that caught my eye! Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Thursday, April 20, 2017

The idea for today's card came from a Lawn Fawn post of a shaker card. Mine is not a shaker card, but I liked the design of their card. The paper is Botanical Gardens DSP which retired last year or longer ago. I adhered that paper to a Soft Sky card base and then started die-cutting letters. I used the retired Little Letters Thinlets, lining up the letters on white cardstock. I temporarily taped them down as I rolled the cardstock thru the Big Shot. After adhering the white cardstock to the DSP, I added the interior pieces of the letters and a Pool Party star-shaped adhesive embellishment. The "happy" and "to you" are words from the retiring Crazy About You stamp set. (I am sorry to see this set go!) After the card was complete, I asked myself, "Why didn't you just die cut the letters from the DSP and adhere them to the white cardstock?" I didn't have an answer. Have a great day!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Today I have created a card using one of the retiring 2015-2017 In Colors, Watermelon Wonder. I paired that color with Pool Party cardstock and the Tasty Treats Specialty Designer Paper that is retiring. I purchased the paper a while ago, but never used it until yesterday! Since I never purchased the Cool Treats stamp set, I needed a "cool" image. I used a penguin image from the My Favorite Things stamp set, Penguins In Paradise. I colored him in using alcohol markers and adhered him to the cardstock on a piece of craft foam which I also die cut with the penguin die. The good thing is that the Cool Treats stamp set carried over, so I still have another year to purchase it!!! To finish the card, I added a balloon brushed with Wink of Stella clear glitter. The sentiment is from a long-retired set and punched with the retired Washi Tape punch. Have a great day!

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Stampin' Up's retired list is out and a number of my favorites are on the list. So this week I will be posting cards using some of my retiring favorites, beginning with the Botanical Builder Framelits. I trimmed the white cardstock using the vine of leaves framelit. After die cutting the flower, I sponged it lightly and layered it on a couple of the ferns on Peekaboo Peach cardstock. This is a set of framelits I will be keeping! The sentiment is from another discontinued item, the Wetlands stamp set. I have found myself reaching for the Wetlands stamp set quite often, especially when I was looking for a sentiment in a pretty font. I created some pretty and serene cards using this stamp set. Have a great day!

Monday, April 17, 2017

I hope everyone had a blessed and joyful Easter. We surely did, celebrating Easter with Mark's family and ours. We truly are blessed that both families enjoy spending holidays together.

After all the enjoyment I got out of making Easter cards and favors, I was trying to figure out what to create now! So while I ponder that, today I am going to post a pic of the cute Easter favors I made. I used Lawn Fawn's Fancy Box die for the boxes and Lawn Fawn's Pretty Plaid Rainbow paper. I tied various ribbons around the boxes which were filled with Easter candy and attached a decorative egg. (The eggs were made with Lawn Fawn's Happy Hatchling dies.) I thought the favors looked really cute. That was until we sat down for dinner and Syd wondered why the chicks didn't have beaks!!! I couldn't believe I forgot to put the beaks on the chicks!!! Good thing that even without beaks, the little chicks are still cute! Have a great day!

Friday, April 14, 2017

This year I enjoyed creating all of the Easter cards that I have posted. But today's card is my favorite! Once again, the image is from Wild Rose Studio's Easter Bunny stamp. I colored with Copic markers after stamping and heat embossing the image. The sentiment is from Simon Says Springtime Critters, layered using Stampin' Up's oval and scalloped oval punches. The scalloped decorative corner punch added elegance to this card. Have a wonderful weekend and a very Happy Easter.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

I think the plaid paper on this card is just so pretty! It is from Lawn Fawn's Perfectly Plaid collection, This particular pattern is called "Lollipop". I made this card especially for Sydney as she thought this image from Simon Says Springtime Critters was so cute. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers. As for the little eggs being the same color as the pail, I scribbled on white cardstock using the same markers and then stamped the eggs over the scribbles and die cut them. Both the white and the Lavendar Lace cardstock were die cut using Stampin' Up's Layering Squares. Have a great day!

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Another cute Easter card. This time I used Lawn Fawn's Eggstra Special Easter stamp set for the sentiment and their Happy Hatchlings die set for the chick. I got the inspiration for this card when I was in Joann's. The inspiration was in the Easter décor department. The minute I saw it, I thought of how cute a card would be! I took a pic of the décor which is on the left. On the right is the card I created! (I should have put in a strip of yellow.) Have a great day!

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Wild Rose Studio has some really cute and pretty stamps. The image on today's card is their Easter Bunny stamp. After stamping the image in Versafine black ink, it was heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I used Spectrum Noir markers to color it. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp's Springtime Critters. The colored image was adhered to Lavendar Lace cardstock. The Lawn Fawn Fancy Scallop Rectangul die was used for a white layer that was adhered to a white card base. Have a great day!

Monday, April 10, 2017

Yesterday was Cricut Sunday and pictured were this month's favors. I used a die I have not used in ages~~the Sizzix Match Box die. It was one of the first dies I purchased when I joined Stampin' Up! I used it often and after a while, newer dies took its place. After filling the little box with chocolates, I wrapped it with a ribbon, adding an "egg" tag to the ribbon. The eggs were created using Lawn Fawn's Happy Hatchling dies. The pattern paper is from Lawn Fawn, too. I was busy this weekend making Easter Favors and finishing Easter cards. I think this week's posts will all be Easter related. Have a great day!

Friday, April 7, 2017

Today's card is fun and colorful. This Easter card was created using the Sale-a-bration set, Hey Chick. I drew a light pencil line across the white cardstock and lined up the eggs on that line. Once the eggs were stamped, I erased the pencil line and colored in the eggs with Spectrum Noir markers. After stamping the sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set, I then wrapped the white cardstock with Bermuda Bay twine. The white cardstock is layered on a retired Green Galore card base. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the Spring weather and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Favors from last Easter, these are cute candy bar holders that my friend, Cherie, taught me how to make. The favor started with a Dove Dark Chocolate candy bar. After wrapping the candy bar in pastel paper, it was time for the wrapper. The wrapper is 2" wide x 12" long. Each end of the strip of paper for the wrapper was punched with the Scallop Tag Topper punch. The candy bar was set in the middle of the paper, the ends brought up and ribbon run thru the little holes. I added a scallop square tag decorated with a little chick from Lawn Fawn's Chirpy, Chirpy, Chirp stamp set and coordinating die and tied a little bow. Have a great day!

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Today's cards are cards I made last Easter. I basically just followed the samples that came with the Simon Says Stamp Kit I purchased. I rarely buy kits, but this particular kit had pretty paper and cardstock colors and the very cute stamp set, My Kind of Peeps, with coordinating dies. I recently found this set on Ebay (brand new stamp and coordinating dies) and yesterday the winning bid was $265.00!!! I knew the set was extremely cute, but had no idea it would sell for that amount of money! My sister and I always bought Peeps for each other and then for Jenny and Matt. I don't think we liked the Peeps as much as we liked surprising each other with the first Peeps of the season. And when Jen and Matt came along, my brother, Danny, showed them how to heat them up in the microwave! Peeps bring back fond memories. I had the best sister and I have two great brothers. Have a great day!

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

As I was making today's Easter card, I realized that last year I made a few Easter cards, but I never posted them. So this week I will be posting old and new Easter cards/favors. I so liked Simon Says Stamp's My Kind of Peep from last Easter, that I used it again for today's card! I know I have a few new stamp sets and dies, but the little Peeps are just so cute! I created the window using one of SU's layering circles and then put two framelits together to create the frame around the circular window. One of my older reliable stamp sets, Teeny Tiny Wishes, once again came in handy. I have a few Easter stamps, but two of them do not have the "E" in Easter capitalized and I just have a thing that Easter should always have an upper case "E"! Have a great day!

Monday, April 3, 2017

Sydney and I got to spend some time together this weekend before her Spring Break ends. We were mostly down in the scrap room working on a variety of things. We worked on baby shower favors for Sydney's Aunt Ida. She die cut 50 airplanes after I stamped them. She then started to fill in a Swatch Booklet that I purchased to keep track of my Copic marker colors. She probably filled in about half of my colors. And then, like Grandma Gay, she got side-tracked!!! She wanted to make a card for her Grandmum as she recovers from surgery. So I introduced Sydney to creating a background using Distress Inks and Clarity brushes. She practiced on a small piece of cardstock and then went to work on her card. The images and sentiment are from Lawn Fawn stamp sets and coordinating dies. Since she was going to be seeing Grandmum, I made a card for Grandmum, too. For my card I used a Fancy Scalloped Rectangle Stackable die from Lawn Fawn and the Nature Birdhouse die from Gina Marie Designs. By the time we were done, it was time for a snack~~brownie topped with ice cream! Thanks for the fun weekend and all of your help, Sydney. (And thank you Jenny for bringing her out and picking her up!) Have a great day everyone!

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About Me

Elgin (west of Randall Road; South of Rt. 20), Illinois, United States

I am married (42 years now--oh my!) and have two children:
Jen and Matt. Jen and her husband blessed us with a beautiful granddaughter who is now 12 years old.
I have been stamping and scrapping for about 13 years. Eight years ago in February I became a Stampin' Up! demo because the quality of their cardstock and ink works best for me. I have a Cricut Explore and the SU! cardstock cuts beautifully in the Cricut. I am also the owner of a Big Shot. What a great tool. The Cricut and Big Shot are great companions in my scrap room. As much as I love SU! products, there are a number of companies that offer wonderful products. That being said, I do use embellishments, scrapbook paper, and tools from other companies.
The content of this website is my sole responsibility as an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator and the use of, and content of, the classes, services, or products offered on this website are not endorsed by Stampin' Up!